The Beginning in the End
by Tali-Zorah-Vas-Normandy
Summary: This wretched war began on Earth, and now it will end there. This is the final battle of the Normandy and the crew we all loved so much. Well. This is my take anyway.
1. Chapter 1

"Please Shepard!" Liara sobbed.

Explosions rang all around them, as Harbinger unleashed hell upon the very earth. Huge chunks of ground swayed and groaned, sliding away from each other and swallowing soldiers everywhere. Jane squinted and wiped blood from her eyebrow out of her eye. Liara made no attempt to hide her tears now, gripping her leg as she stared at Shepard.

"I can keep going! Let me go with you!"

Jane gazed into her eyes. God how she loved this woman. Sighing heavily, and with a burning sensation in her throat, she placed her hand to her ear.

"Normandy come in," she called into the transmittor.

"NO!" cried Liara, knowing what this meant.

"Joker here," came the garbled reply, as static roared in her ear.

"I need a med evac, stat. Sending coordinates," she said as she looked around.

There. There was a clearing not far.

"EDI how are you," called Jane as she heaved Liara onto her back.

"This platform has taken d-damages but I can r-r-repair necessary functions," came EDI's halting reply, as the mech glitched.

"Good, cover us!"

The AI loaded another thermal clip into her pistol and stood, firing. Taking this cue, Shepard began to run. The dust was suffocating and the noises were deafening but her goal was in her sights and damned if she wasn't going to get there. She took a glance behind, and was reassured to see EDI moving behind them, still firing off shots.

"Joker here. ETA 26 seconds."

A husk popped up in front of Shepard and screamed in its horrible voice. Desperation pounded through her as she watched it lock onto her and start shambling forward. She began backpedaling fiercely until something snapped within her. No. She had been running since Earth, and she was done. Letting out a primal cry and gripping Liara tighter with both hands, she ran towards it, viciously head-butting it.

"Shepard!" cried Liara, as the husk fell and Jane staggered.

Regaining herself, she placed a boot firmly through the husks face and was treated to a satisfying crunch that made her blood heat. In spite of herself she almost smiled. For so long this war had been political bullshit and deceit. For once they were in a straightforward fight for their lives and it was right in her element. Taking a breath, Jane looked up to see the Normandy flying into view. It groaned as it made a rough but fast landing. The bay doors swung down and two marines began firing support, letting EDI catch up. Jane hauled herself and Liara up the steep incline, heedless of the burning in her legs. Liara yelped as Shepard tried to gently set her down, obviously failing.

"Take her!" She yelled to the nearest marine who nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist, taking her arm over his shoulder.

As she stood on shaking legs, Liara looked up at Jane, utter heartbreak in her eyes.

"You. are. not. leaving. me." She choked out, tears cleaning away dirt as they ran down her face.

"Liara don't you dare argue with me," Shepard said darkly, stepping closer. "You mean everything to me. I won't let you...You and I both know what is going to happen. I can't let you die. I won't lose you. "

The marine holding Liara looked surprised to see this side of Jane, but it just gave him that much more respect for her.

"Shepard, I..." Liara searched for words, any words to show Jane the depths of her love, for what might be the last time.

"I am yours," she whispered into her ear, giving her a small kiss on her cheek.

Jane said nothing, but grabbed Liara's face in both of her hands and kissed her as hard and as desperately as she ever had, trying to put everything into it, and she didn't care who saw. Liara sobbed as she broke away. EDI stepped up.

"EDI go with Liara," said Shepard wearily, beginning to climb down the deck.

"Commander, this platform is not my seat of intelligence. I could accompany you. Even if this mech is destroyed there are many others I could use," said EDI, glancing at Liara.

"Please, yes. If I can't go with you, at least let EDI go. I don't want you to be alone if..." Liara couldn't finish but she didn't need to.

Shepard saw how much she wanted it. How much they both did. EDI was right anyway, the platform was disposable. She nodded and Liara breathed a small sigh of relief, though the tears never stopped. Suddenly a blast sounded near the ship. Too near.

"GO!" shouted Shepard, waving the marine off.

He nodded and began retreating up the deck with Liara. EDI and Shepard jumped clear of the Normandy just as it lifted off. As she lost view of Liara, something new took over Jane. She was light. Free. She had nothing to lose now. And everything to gain. They started to run towards the beam, slowly at first, then faster and faster until it was a dead sprint, EDI's legs making whirring noises to keep up with Shepard's insane pace. Rubble flew all around them. People were screaming, falling. Blood mixed with dirt, yet she never stopped. Her eyes were locked firmly on the beam, hatred blazing. She would send these monsters to hell if she had to drag them down with her. That was her last thought. The last thing going through her mind before a red light engulfed her and she knew nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness held her. Embraced her with a sickly-sweet warmth. Was this death?

"COMMANDER SHEPARD!"

No. She could hear EDI still. With all of her strength, she opened her eyes. EDI's mech sat over her, a worried expression plastered across it, where the facade was still intact and not broken apart to show the cybernetics underneath. She sat up and winced as she felt her ribs grinding together. Nodding to EDI, she managed to stagger to her feet.

"Keep moving," she mouthed to her, too out of breath for words.

They both limped on. The battlefield looked deserted. Like a graveyard. The only sign of movement was the constant shimmer of the beam. Shepard glanced at EDI, trying to gauge the damage she had taken. Her body was almost completely black with char and dirt but underneath everything was fairly intact, minus a nasty hole in her left leg and a dent in her stomach. Jane hadn't fared as well. From what she could guess, at least two ribs were broken, and from the lack of feeling on most of her body, she would guess she had been burned. On a whim, Jane looked down to see how bad her armour was. She almost didn't recognize the blackened and broken pieces of material hanging from her. Only her N7 logo remained mostly untouched, but the rest, down to her greaves, were fractured into chunks that clung to her clothes underneath, burned into them. As she took another step, she began to suspect that her clothes were burned and melted onto her skin, and one more step confirmed it, as a searing pain shot through her leg when she stretched it too far.

"Commander?"

"I'm fine EDI. Focus on the beam."

"..Yes, Commander."

Suddenly with a hideous groan, three husks moved into view. One spotted them and growled, blue fluid spitting out. Shepard raised her pistol and fired, but only hit an arm. EDI was more successful. With cold precision, she dispatched two husks before Jane finally got the last in her shaky sights. Its head exploded into a mess of wires and flesh as Shepard staggered forward.

"EDI, I'm running low on clips. See if there are any lying around," called out Jane as she took another step forward…

…Which put her right in its line of fire. A searing pain erupted in her right shoulder as the sound of a gunshot reached her. She cried out and aimed at the Marauder, but it simply turned and fled into the beam. EDI raced to Shepard and caught her as she began to fall.

"Shepard, are you alright?" asked EDI, concern laced throughout her voice.

All of the medigel had been USED up or BLOWN up at this point so Shepard saw no alternative but to suck it up and continue. Nodding a quick, and painful affirmation, she allowed EDI to help her stand. Once she was on her feet the mech withdrew her blood-soaked hands and Jane grimaced. Pointing a hand forward and gripping her pistol so tightly her fingers ached, she took a step.

With furrowed eyebrows and energy she didn't know she had, Jane made it to the beam. Taking a deep breath and making sure EDI was there, she stepped into the blue light. Immediately her stomach dropped, as she was thrown violently upwards. The journey took no more than a second, and threatened to give her whiplash as she was shot forward into a dark corridor. She landed unceremoniously on her stomach and face. Her nose crunched and she yelped in pain, also feeling her lip bust as warm blood trickled down. As she was about to get up, there was another sound and EDI came flying out of the beam behind her, landing squarely on top of a very irate Jane.

"My apologies, Shepard," she said, quickly rising.

Shepard just grunted. She was overwhelmingly tired and the room was beginning to blur from the blood loss. Recognizing the need to hurry, Jane started out again, as fast as she could hobble.

"What are we looking for up here EDI?" asked Shepard, eyeing the keepers with disgust as they pushed around bodies to continue working, showing no signs of caring.

"Blue-prints of the Citadel seem to indicate that the controls should be directly under the Council Chambers," replied EDI.

Shepard frowned as she surveyed the hall. This was somewhere she had never been, but seeing as there was only one way forward, she took it. The stench of death was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes, were it not for the copious amounts of blood filling her nostrils. The dark hallway was lit only with the occasional burst of dim, red emergency lights that flashed slowly. Suddenly static burst from Shepard's ear-piece, making her swear and squeeze off a round.

"Commander Shepard?" called the voice.

"Damn it Admiral," said Jane, forgetting her place, "You scared the shit out of me."

If Hackett noticed, he didn't seem to care. "Are you inside?"

"Affirmative."

"What is your status?"

"I'm in some hall. I've never been here before. Our maps indicate that the target is below the Council Chambers in the tower. I'm en route."

"Good. Keep me posted. Hackett out."

The comm fizzled and was silent. Just then the ground rumbled and what Jane had thought was a wall, slid apart, revealing a wider and brighter bridge running over what looked to be part of the Citadel's engines. Moving on, with EDI close by, they slowly crossed down and then across the bridge. Straining against her legs and the blood loss, they began the steep ascent to the other side of the pathway. As they crested the top of the ramp, Shepard's blood ran cold, and an involuntary snarl escaped her mouth.

"Why, Shepard, that's no way to greet an ally, and after everything I did for you."

She brought her gun up and leveled it at him.

"Illusive man," she growled. "We were never allies. You were a means to an end. I needed to destroy the Collectors. That was all, and now you are in my way. Again."

The ropes of cybernetics in his face stretched as he smiled, and Jane felt a shiver go through her. Was he a man or a machine?

"Oh no Shepard," he said, pulling a gun on her before she could blink, "I believe it's YOU who are in MY way, and I simply cannot afford to waste time. After all, the Reapers are in desperate need of a leader, and why shouldn't it be me? I am, after all, humanity's last hope. Such a shame about what's going to happen to you though."

Immediately he took aim and fired. Jane realized she would never be able to dodge the shots, and with her armour the way it was, she had no chance. How could she have been so stupid? But as she waited for the pain, waited for the darkness…it didn't come. Instead she heard two loud metallic pings and looked up. In front of her stood EDI, gun raised. The bullets lay harmlessly at her feet and two small dents in her body were the only evidence.

"How dare you," said EDI, hatred leaking from her voice.

Jane felt her mouth fall open. She had never heard this kind of emotion coming from the AI.

"Commander Shepard has done more for this galaxy than any other organic. Synthetics have been given equal status for the first time in the history of this cycle. She is a hero to organics. But she is also a hero to us."

The Illusive Man was livid. "You are nothing!" He roared. "You are not alive! You do not feel! You are worth NOTHING!"

"NO," said Shepard, stepping to stand beside EDI. "That is where you are wrong."

He laughed, a dangerous and unhinged look in his eyes.

"I will not argue with a washed up soldier and a few bits of code! Besides, I have friend here for you!" he cried out as he gestured to the shadows.

The battered and twisted body of a Marauder moved into the light. Its eyes were uncaring and the harsh masses of synthetic material clicked and whirred as it moved to stand behind the Illusive Man. Then in a split second it was gone, moving headlong at Shepard faster than she had ever seen one move. It hit her like a train and they both flew off the platform they had been standing on, and landed hard on another platform about twenty feet away and five feet down. The air was knocked out of Jane and she gasped and coughed as she rolled to her knee, pistol out and up. The Marauder had landed away from her a bit and now stood to watch her. EDI seemed to radiate tension as she kept her gun trained on the Illusive Man. He moved away from her to stand at the edge of their platform and address Shepard.

"Oh what a touching reunion," he said, smirking.

A look of confusion passed over Jane's face as she eyed the monster. The Illusive Man laughed.

"Oh for shame, Shepard! You don't recognize a fellow Spectre?!"

Her heart sunk as her pulse quickened. She locked eyes with the cold creature and whispered one word.

"Nihlus."


End file.
